Let’s make carbon offsetting a natural choice

Providing a simple way to offset carbon emissions from journeys will set us on the right road to a lower carbon future, until lower emission vehicles become mainstream 

It is a special day for Shell Retail. We are today announcing new rapid electric vehicle charge-points and carbon-neutral driving options for our customers in the Netherlands.

Let me share the journey of how we reached this point.  

Every year I work a shift on a Shell forecourt. In 2017 I was in Hungary, the country where I was born. There I was spending time with the folks working in the frontline that we call “service champions” and talking to customers.

It was there where the reality truly dawned on me. People are increasingly conscious of their car’s impact on the environment. They want to do something about it now. And their concern is global.

According to a recent study[1], 66% of European drivers want to reduce their carbon footprint, but don’t know how. 27% say they would go as far as avoiding driving long distances to reduce their carbon footprint. People want to do something but say the options available to them are expensive and not easy to do in their everyday life.

What’s the answer?

Yet there’s growing urgency to act. Many of our customers want to do better for the planet. And although switching the car for a bicycle works for some, it’s not the answer for most.

That’s what has contributed to Shell’s announcement today to invest in a further 200 new rapid electric vehicle charge-points on our Dutch forecourts - all powered by renewable energy! This follows the 500 high-powered chargers that Shell is currently installing on forecourts across Europe with network operator IONITY, enabling drivers with the most modern electric vehicles to charge their cars in 5 minutes and to achieve a range of 500 kilometres.  In addition, customers in Europe now have access to 100,000 home and on-the-go charge points through New Motion, the company we recently acquired. 

Shell is working to meet the needs of electric vehicle drivers at home, at work and on the road. We’re also offering more lower-emission fuels – liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen and biofuels.

And, what about those motorists’ whose cars don’t take biofuels? What about those trucks that don’t run on LNG? And what for the world’s 99.7% of drivers who are yet to purchase their first electric vehicle?

Carbon compensation

This is precisely where carbon compensation, or carbon offsetting, can play an important role.

Rewind back to my conversations with Shell customers in Hungary. They desperately wanted to do something but that something needed to be simple and affordable.

So, we ran a carbon offsetting pilot. And then another one. The responses were great. One customer said, “this is such an easy thing to do, knowing that only a few of my pennies will help with the environment when I fill up my car”.

Now I’m proud to announce that the Netherlands’ 8.4 million drivers will have the option to offset their carbon emissions by protecting and replanting forests, from April 17. And we don’t plan to stop there. Watch this space for more countries soon.

So how does it work? 

Simply put, it means that you’re not adding to your carbon footprint when you drive your car because the emissions from your fuel tank are offset through the protection and replanting of forests. The fuel is the same; we’re now adding carbon compensation as an additional service available to drivers.

As a natural progression for our premium fuel this will be standard on Shell V-Power. Those customers who fill up with regular Shell gasoline, diesel or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) can either pay 1-euro cent per litre extra or sign up to Shell’s Miles & Me rewards programme for free carbon neutral driving. Credits are sourced from Shell’s portfolio of carbon offsetting projects from around the world. Each externally-verified carbon credit purchased represents the removal of 1 tonne of carbon from the atmosphere.

Shell has a track record at making this work. We already offer carbon offsetting to our business customers in Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria and Hong Kong. Think road hauliers, taxi drivers, and managers of large fleets of cars.

Staying realistic

While we are excited about this development, we are also realistic. We know it’s not simple to change behaviours overnight. But I take heart from how quickly recycling became second nature.

Providing a simple, satisfying way to offset our necessary journeys will set us on the right road, until lower emissions vehicles become mainstream. Think how far we’ve come with recycling. Let’s make carbon offsetting a natural choice too.

 [1] According to an Edelman Intelligence survey of 4,000 European adults aged 18+ in the UK, Germany, France and Netherlands in March 2019.